Ep. 365: Kendale Ritchey, DPM - A Podiatrist’s Own 30-Year Mystery Illness Solved with Plants — and the Devastating Effects of Diabetes on Your Feet

2026-08-06

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Dr. Kendale Ritchey is a podiatrist in Knoxville, Tennessee, a former University of Tennessee swimmer, and a self-described “recovered barbecue-aholic.”For nearly three decades, Kendale lived with recurring episodes of intense abdominal, chest, and joint pain, along with fevers and debilitating inflammation.Then, after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Forks Over Knives with his wife Connie, Kendale decided to try a whole food, plant-based lifestyle.Within weeks, he noticed something extraordinary: the episodes were mil...

Dr. Kendale Ritchey is a podiatrist in Knoxville, Tennessee, a former University of Tennessee swimmer, and a self-described “recovered barbecue-aholic.”

For nearly three decades, Kendale lived with recurring episodes of intense abdominal, chest, and joint pain, along with fevers and debilitating inflammation.

Then, after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Forks Over Knives with his wife Connie, Kendale decided to try a whole food, plant-based lifestyle.

Within weeks, he noticed something extraordinary: the episodes were milder. Then they stopped.

In this conversation, Rip and Kendale talk about his years of unexplained pain, his eventual discovery of Familial Mediterranean Fever through genetic testing, and why a plant-based lifestyle became the turning point in his health.

They also discuss Kendale’s work as a podiatrist and the devastating toll of type 2 diabetes on the feet, including neuropathy, poor circulation, infections, and preventable amputations.

You’ll hear:

Kendale’s background as a swimmer at the University of Tennessee
The construction accident that may have triggered decades of inflammatory episodes
What Familial Mediterranean Fever is and how he eventually discovered the diagnosis
The documentaries that changed everything for Kendale and his wife Connie
How whole food, plant-based eating helped calm his symptoms
His 60-pound weight loss and renewed energy
What he eats now and how he makes the lifestyle work
Why type 2 diabetes is so devastating for the feet
The connection between blood sugar, circulation, nerves, immunity, and amputations
Why Kendale now plants seeds with his own patients about food and lifestyle

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pmsjP92_xH8

Episode Webpage: https://www.plantstrongpodcast.com/blog/kendale-ritchey

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